


Welcome to the Bottom of the World

by GuiltyPleasureIsMyPleasure



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Antarctica, Barebacking, Blow Jobs, Bottom Louis, But it's not really explored, Fluff, Happy Ending, I'm obsessed, Louis is a musher, M/M, Rimming, Top Harry, but wear a condom kids, expedition - Freeform, lots of dogs, louis saves harry, more than once, side Ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26907469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuiltyPleasureIsMyPleasure/pseuds/GuiltyPleasureIsMyPleasure
Summary: Louis is an American musher/expedition guide, Harry is a scientist from England. They meet in the middle of Antarctica, what could go wrong?
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82





	Welcome to the Bottom of the World

**Author's Note:**

> Based on one of my favorite childhood movies (But like, the adult version) Eight Below. Also, no dogs get left behind in this story because that part of the movie ruins me.  
> Also, this is my first fic sooooo take it easy on me, I guess?

It’s really fucking cold out, not that Louis isn’t used to that sharp chill in the air from the sub-zero temperatures. He feels the bite of the arctic air as his breaths come out in puffs and his hands stuff themselves deep into the pockets of his parka. He’s learned to acclimate to the cold over the last four summers here and he’s grown familiar with the numbness that claims his nose and fingers. But, damn. It’s fucking cold.

“Hey, kids! Who’s hungry for dinner?” Louis calls out as he grabs the bucket of food and the bowls for his dogs. He’s spent years with these dogs, learning their quirks, their favorite places to be pet, and the way their brains ticked. He loves them as if they were his children.

“Mav, chill out.” He chuckles as he sets the bowl of food in front of the youngest pup, smiling as the husky lurches for his food with his paws prancing happily. “You act like you haven’t eaten in fifteen years. You’re fine, bud.” Louis glides his hand over the thick black fur on Maverik’s back and hums softly, assessing his dogs. As he makes his way down the line, dishing out food to each dog, he examines their paws to check for any bleeding or signs of injury as he does every night. He talks to his dogs as they eat, praising them for their hard work today on the trails. These dogs are athletes, and they eat, sleep, and breathe running. Louis’ chest fills with pride, as he imagines a parent’s would at their child’s first recital.

“Night, kids. Sleep tight. See you bright and early in the morning!” Louis calls out as he lifts his fingers to his lips and blows hot air on them. Tugging his knit hat further over his ears, he turns and trudges through the snow towards the main building of the base.

As Louis opens the heavy door and steps inside the small wooden building where the group shared meals and downtime together, the smell of warm bean chili wafts to his nose.

“Oh, Rosemary, you wonderful woman! I have half a mind to marry you right here and now!” He grins and kicks off his winter boots and hangs his parka up on the hooks by the door.

“Well dear, as lovely as you are, I have a feeling the age difference may prove to cause some issues. You wouldn’t know what to do with me,” the older woman at the stove laughed and gave the chili a stir. “This is just about done, help yourselves.”

Louis gently tugged at a wild curl hanging by Rosemary’s ear and grabbed a bowl, nudging Liam out of the way so he can get to the cupboard. Rosemary definitely wasn’t the best cook in the world, but out of this bunch she may as well have been Gordon Ramsey. The steaming bowl of chili settles in his tummy and warms him from the inside out, exhaustion creeping up on him as warmth returns to his fingers and toes.

“What do you think Z will bring with him this time around?” Liam asks, not so subtly probing about the pilot who visits every few weeks to drop off supplies.

Andrew, the base director, sits down across from Louis with a knowing smile on his face and shrugs. “Well, he’s bringing Dr. Styles.” He hummed and shuffled the deck of worn in cards with ease and started laying them out for a game of solitaire.

“Dude, I bet you he’s bringing a plane with him,” Louis joked around a mouthful of beans.

Liam narrowed his eyes slightly at Louis and nudged his shin with his foot under the table. “No need to be a wiseass, Tommo,” he muttered.

“You’re the one that asked.” Louis shrugged with a grin.

“I meant supplies, you dork. What supplies do you think he’s bringing with him on his plane this time?” Zayn often grabbed a few things that weren’t on the list of necessities that was radioed to the base headquarters. More often than not, he found a way to bring some of Liam’s favorite foods or small games or knickknacks, which quickly made him the crew’s favorite supply pilot. And most definitely Liam’s favorite supply pilot.

“Well, I hope he brings some proper booze with him this time around, for fucks sake!” Niall snorted. “That watered-down piss that he brought with him last time was absolute shit.” The man, hailing from the great country of Ireland, took his drinking very seriously, a fact he wouldn’t let Zayn forget ever again.

Louis chuckled and shoveled the last few bites of chili in his mouth. “I’m gonna head to bed. See you guys in the morning,” he hummed and dumped his bowl in the sink before grabbing a hot water bottle and leaving the others to dream of what goods Zayn would bring the following afternoon.

*

Louis woke the next morning to the generators kicking in and rumbling loudly. Sighing, he rubbed his tired eyes and scrubbed the palms of his hands over his face. He’s never been great with mornings but it’s a good thing Andy makes a mean cup of joe to get the blood moving in his brain. He can hear Andy bustling about in the other room and soon the aroma of coffee is seeping into the bunk room, drawing Louis from his bunk.

As his feet hit the floor, he doesn’t even wince at the freezing cold concrete against his bare feet. He’s used to it, though it still isn’t exactly pleasant. Muscles ache and strain as Louis lifts his arms above his head and stretches out onto his tiptoes before relaxing and returning his heels to the floor. On his way out the door, he snags Liam’s slippers to keep his feet warm.

“Mornin,” he yawned at Andy, scratching the back of his head as he steps through the doorway to the dining room/living area.

“Good morning.” Is all Andy says, preoccupied with pouring coffee into a chipped mug.

Louis doesn’t mind the quiet in the morning. Neither he nor Andy really enjoys mornings and they both revel in the silence before the others wake up and join them. He slips past Andy and pours his own cup of coffee before easing down into the worn-out green armchair next to the furnace. His eyes fall shut as he brings the steaming mug to his lips and takes a small sip, the scalding coffee coating his tongue. He never used to be a coffee drinker before joining the expedition team, but early mornings and freezing cold temperatures were quick to change that. Now, he can’t make it past nine in the morning without at least half a cup of coffee or he faces a migraine and his mood gets sour.

The two sat there in peace, both enjoying each other’s quiet company as they awaken their bones for the day. Not ten minutes later, Louis hears Niall grunt loudly from the bunk room. He assumes that Niall hit his head on the ceiling again. Wouldn’t be the first time, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. His suspicions are proved correct when Niall trudges into the room, holding the top of his head and muttering under his breath.

“Heads up.” Louis teased, keeping his volume down lest anyone else not be awake yet. It was only six in the morning.

Niall’s reply is a middle finger in his direction and a scowl. Niall’s not a morning person either. They get along well once they’ve both had coffee and some time to fully wake up. Louis just cracks a smile and stands up, having finished his first cup of coffee. He set his mug down on the dining table next to where the fake wood laminate is peeling and kicked Liam’s slippers off into the corner of the room. He quickly shoved his feet into his winter boots to try to retain some body heat before he would brave the cold morning air.

Once bundled up in his parka, hat, gloves, and boots, he makes his way outside to take care of his dogs before breakfast. They always ate before he did, they were his number one priority, getting treated better than Louis himself.

“Mornin, boys and girls! Time to rise and shine!” Louis called out as he banged the ladle on the food bucket, resulting in a chorus of barks from the bundles of fur that are now leaping to their feet.

“Morning, Honey, how are we doing this morning?” He hummed as he knelt in front of his favorite girl, threading his fingers through her golden fur. “Get enough beauty sleep?” He asked and ladled the nutrient-rich stew into her food bowl, kissing her on the forehead before moving on to Timber who’s watching Honey eat with his piercing blue eyes and drool dripping onto the packed snow.

“Good morning to you too, buddy.” He smiles, serving him his bowl of stew which he eagerly gobbles up. He moves from dog to dog, murmuring to them and giving them morning cuddles.

Once all dogs have been fed, Louis heads back to the base to get another cup of coffee and some breakfast before the morning run with his team. These dogs went on two to three runs a day, depending on what they needed to get done that day. On days when the dogs weren’t needed as much for expeditions or running equipment around, Louis would grab a baseball bat and a bucket of tennis balls and play fetch with them to get the runs out of them. He makes a quick stop to drop off the food and stomps his feet before slipping into the main hall.

“And how are the kids this morning?” Rosemary asks from her spot at the desk where she’s looking over a few of Niall’s maps.

“Good. I think Diesel missed Niall last night.” Louis grins and glances over at Niall, who sputters around his coffee. “He might need some extra cuddles.” He hummed teasingly, knowing full well that Niall was decidedly not a dog person, despite Diesel picking Niall as his favorite human at the base. Given the chance, he always jumps up on Niall’s lap or runs full speed at him and rams his head against his shins in excitement.

“Oh, ha ha, Louis,” Niall muttered and pops another piece of bread into the toaster.

Louis giggled and shrugged, yanking off his boots and rolling up his plaid pajama bottoms so the ice on the hem wouldn’t freeze his ankles. “Wanna, stick another slice in there for me? I’ll be right back.”

“Sure, mate. You’re lucky I’m in a good mood, I won’t even lick it while you’re gone,” Niall said casually.

“So lucky,” is all Louis says. When he emerges, he’s dressed in thick pants with a layer of thermal wear underneath and a thick sweater to keep him warm. “So, Liam, what time is Z showing up?” He asked and spread peanut butter over his toast before taking a bite with a wide smirk on his lips.

“What makes you think I know?” Liam asked incredulously.

“Gee, I dunno. Probably because I’m assuming you already asked Andy first thing this morning,” he hummed, looking over the rim of his coffee mug with a knowing look in his eyes.

Niall cackled and kicked Liam’s shin playfully while the latter opened and closed his mouth in disbelief. “Uh. Well. Andy said they would get in around two today,” he finally murmured begrudgingly, pulling a laugh out of Louis.

“Fucking knew it,” Louis giggled and shook his head fondly, stuffing more toast into this mouth. The angsty romance between Liam and Zayn was admittedly one of the main topics of conversation amongst himself, Niall, and Rosemary. Andy didn’t typically involve himself in those conversations, but he was well aware of the chemistry between the two. Louis personally thought Liam and Zayn would make a fantastic couple, if they would just get their heads out of their asses and admit they shared feelings. Liam, however, was convinced that his feelings were one-sided, and would hardly even admit to having feelings for his fellow Brit. Niall was sure that the two would end up boning one of these days to relieve the tension.

“Mate, you’ve gotta get your own love life. Your interest in Li’s is a little sad,” Niall teased.

“Shut up. I have a love life,” Louis muttered, knowing full well that the stories of his love life could barely fill a Post-It note.

“Yeah, okay,” Niall scoffed and stuffed another slice of buttered toast into his mouth.

It’s not that Louis didn’t want a love life. He would love to have a boyfriend of his own. Someone to come home to, someone to make him dinner because Lord knows he can’t cook for shit. It’s just that he’s always busy and there aren’t many men who stick around when he lets it slip that he travels across the world to Antarctica for months at a time. If that didn’t weed them out, the fact that Louis lived in the middle of nowhere Washington with eight dogs on a farm did the rest of the work.

*

“C’mon kids! Who’s ready for a run?” Louis called out to his dogs, pulling his knit hat further over his ears. The dogs began barking and wagging their tails. Tundra jumped up on his hind legs, barking excitedly with his fluffy white tail going crazy. His other swing dog, Sitka, ran in circles next to the lines. Louis laughed and shook his head as he untangled the gangline. “Dakota! Diesel! Line up!” He ordered, watching his two wheel dogs trot over to their spots, ready to be hooked up to the sled. “Good boys,” he praised and slid their harnesses on, then hooked them up to the gangline. Two by two, he called his dogs over and soon enough they were all assembled and lurching against the lines, excited to run.

“Alright, kids, let’s go!” Louis shouted. “Hike!”

Honey and Timber led the group as they took off across the blinding white snow. Louis lived for this. He lived for these moments with his dogs, feeling the cold wind sting his cheeks and awaken his soul. Running these animals filled his heart to bursting. A smile broke out across his face and he inhaled deeply, lungs filling with crisp air as flurries from the paws of his dogs flew up in the air. These were the dogs that saved him. They gave him a purpose in life and they had brought him back from the darkest place he had ever been in his life. Louis let out a happy yell and cheered on his dogs as they ran their route, shouting commands and encouragements to keep them on track.

There was a time in his life when he didn’t know joy. He had been in his second year of college and he had never felt so lost. Sadness plagued him every day and a weight had settled on his shoulders like he had ropes wrapped around his arms that pulled him into the ground. He had almost hit rock bottom when he had taken a trip to Alaska with a few of his fellow students as a part of one of his courses. He remembers seeing a sled dog team and their musher running next to the road that Louis was driving on and he had never seen someone look so free. The very next day he had found a kennel that would take people on rides and Louis fell in love. He spent as much time as he could visiting the locals who had sled dogs and learning all that he could about the sport.

When he had returned home from his trip, he knew he couldn’t wait to get back to Alaska. He felt a pull deep in his chest to go back, to return to the land of snow and sled dogs. Not a semester later, he decided to drop out of college and worked two different jobs to save up some money to go back. As soon as he had enough money, he packed up his things and moved three thousand miles from home. It was the best decision of his life. He had found a local who was willing to hire him on to assist around the farm with the dogs and he found himself learning more in the two years that he lived in Alaska than he had in his entire college and high school life.

He had only returned home to Washington, having found an old Native American man that trained dogs for expedition teams. He had called Burt and left many voicemails and sent just as many emails until the older man agreed to let Louis visit. The next thing he knew, he was back on a plane on his way back home. Five years later, he had his own team of dogs and signed on with the National Science Foundation through one of Burt’s connections. It wasn’t easy to leave behind his family in northern Washington, but he couldn’t ignore the call in his heart to do what he loved most in the world.

A few hours later, Louis was outside with Niall, using a baseball bat to hit a few tennis balls for the dogs to run after to work some energy out of them. Soon enough, they heard a faint sound of a motor that they knew well. Within only a few seconds, Liam was flying out the door of the base with his coat half-zipped and he was still pulling one of his boots onto his foot.

Louis giggled and shook his head at his peer, all too fond of how excited Liam got but pretended (poorly) not to be. He shared a knowing look with Niall before turning back to his dogs, not sharing Liam’s enthusiasm about Zayn and his aircraft.

When the aircraft landed, Harry pulled the zipper of his jacket up a little higher. “Fuck, it’s cold,” he murmured, receiving a laugh and a shake of the head from Zayn.

“Better get used to it, mate,” Zayn hummed and took off his headset once they were settled on the ground. He grinned widely when he caught sight of Liam and swung open the door to the aircraft, flying across the snow over to the man. They met in a flurry of arms as they hugged each other tightly and laughed.

Harry didn’t pay the two much mind and busied himself with getting some of his gear organized to be unloaded from the plane. He smiled at the man with a slightly crooked nose and pink cheeks that came over to help him unload. He lifted his gaze to explore the simple, if not boring, base when he noticed a shorter man playing with a large group of fluffy dogs. From this distance, Harry couldn’t make out many details, but he could already tell that he liked the man’s smile.

“Hey! Watch it!” Harry gasped as the young man helping him with his luggage dropped one of the heavy metal containers. “This stuff made it thousands of miles from England, I’d hate for it to get broken in the last hundred steps,” he huffed. That equipment was way more than Harry could afford to replace, and he was sure that Manchester University wouldn’t be very happy to find out that the equipment they loaned him didn’t return in working condition.

“Sorry, mate,” the Irishman apologized sheepishly. “I’m Niall, by the way.”

“Harry Styles,” Harry hummed and accepted the handshake from Niall. He let his eyes drift back to the man with the dogs. He couldn’t quite explain it, but he felt a pull in his gut like a fishing line tugging him in the direction of the mystery man. It must just be the dry spell he was having. Being a scientist and working on such a massive project didn’t leave much time for extracurriculars.

Once the equipment was unloaded and brought to the office building/lab he would be working in, Niall brought him around for introductions, chatting away about how heavy all of Harry’s stuff was. Niall led him up to the man Zayn had been hugging first.

“Hello. I’m Liam Payne,” Liam greeted with a friendly smile and reached out a gloved hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Harry Styles,” he responded politely.

“Liam’s a scientist too. Don’t ask him exactly what he does, none of us really know because he won’t stop yammering your ear off once he gets started. He’s writing some big fancy paper or some shit while he’s here,” Niall laughed and received an eye roll from the man named Liam.

“Hello, dear. I’m Dr. Rosemary. I study the seals down here and track their migration patterns. When I’m not studying the seals, I’m making sure these boys don’t starve to death,” an older woman with sandy, graying hair said with a sweet smile. Harry could tell she was a bit of a mother figure to the others here.

“Lovely to meet you, Dr. Rosemary,” Harry hummed.

Next, he was introduced to Andrew, or Andy as the team called him. He seemed to be the one in charge of the base. Niall gave him some more information about his own duties before turning to the mystery man with the dogs who was walking towards them with a herd of dogs trotting happily behind him with their tongues lolling out of their mouths.

“This is Louis. He’s the zookeeper,” Niall explained, sporting a wide and careless smile.

The man, Louis, snorted and rolled his eyes. “That’s one word for it,” he laughed and turned to Harry. His eyes widened ever so slightly, at least Harry thought they did. “Hi. I’m Louis, as Niall said, and I’m the expedition guide.”

“Hello, Louis.” Harry let his name sit on his tongue, contemplating it while he examined the man’s face. Now that it was close, Harry could make out pink lips, long dark eyelashes, and what may have been the bluest eyes he’s ever seen. “I’m Harry.”

“Nice to meet you. Welcome to the bottom of the world,” the beautiful man smiled and shook his hand.

Harry laughed breathlessly. “Thanks. It’s fucking cold down here.”

Louis chuckled and nodded. “That it is. You kind of get used to it after a while.”

“I sure hope so,” Harry spoke, still watching Louis’ face with probably way too much interest.

“Come on, lads. Inside we go, can’t let this Brit freeze his arse off.” Niall joked and led the way towards the main building.

Harry reluctantly turned away from Louis and followed the Irishman, sparing a glance back towards Louis to see if he was following. The younger man wasn’t, he was attending to the dogs around him.

When it was time for dinner, Louis finally made his appearance in the main building.

“Incoming!” He yelled as he held the door open for the team of dogs to come running into the living room. He liked to let the dogs hang out with the rest of the crew in the evenings and give them a break from the cold for a little bit. He also loved to watch Niall freak out when Diesel inevitably would find him and tackle him. He couldn’t quite explain the relationship between the two, but Niall was a bit nervous around dogs and Diesel seemed to absolutely adore the Irishman.

As if on cue, the big black and white malamute went barreling over to Niall with his big fluffy tail wagging swiftly.

“Diesel, no!” Niall screeched with wide eyes and scrambled onto the couch, only to have Diesel hop up onto the couch and start licking his cheek.

Louis laughed loudly, kicking his boots off before removing the rest of his snow gear. “C’mon Ni, he just wants a little kiss!”

“No, gross! Get off me, you big oaf!” Niall whined, pushing at Diesel.

“Alright, alright. C’mon Dies, get off of him,” Louis sighed dramatically and snapped his fingers. Instantly, Diesel hopped off of the couch and came rambling over. “I know you love him, buddy, but he’s a stupid man who can’t appreciate your love,” he cooed and scratched behind his ears, receiving the middle finger from Niall.

Harry watched the interaction between the two with a small smile. He noted as Louis took off his parka and snow pants that he was actually a little on the petite side. His thermal leggings hugged his curves and the long sweater he was wearing covered his bottom, to his surprising disappointment. The young man murmured to the dogs and Harry’s eyes flicked over Louis’ body as he bent down to scratch the tummy of one of the gray ones. The man was fit, like proper fit. Harry had always loved curves and those delicate ankles and wrists of Louis’ made Harry want to drag his lips all over his skin. Which… Odd. He truly was letting this whole thing get out of hand in his mind. This man was a complete stranger. Harry didn’t even know if he was interested in men, and this so did not seem like the time or place to pursue anything with him.

As if sensing Harry’s inner turmoil, Louis grabbed a plate of pasta and set it in front of Harry with a smile. “Hungry?” He asked and handed him a fork, missing the heat rising in Harry’s cheeks.

“Uh, yeah. Thank you,” He mumbled and scratched the back of his neck.

“You’re welcome,” Louis shrugged and sat down across from him next to Andy at the dining table with his own plate of food.

Harry did his best not to stare too hard at the lovely man in front of him and attempted to busy himself with a conversation with Andy about the meteorite that Harry had traveled all the way to Antarctica to find.

After dinner Louis, Zayn, Niall, and Liam gathered around one of the tables to play a few rounds of poker, each grabbing one of the beers that Zayn had brought them. Louis grabbed an extra chair to prop his feet up on and took a swig of his beer, picking at the label.

“Hey, Doc, you sure you don’t want to join us?” Louis asked Harry.

“Yeah, I’m alright. ‘M not so good at poker,” Harry assured with a smile.

“Suit yourself.” Louis shrugged, petting the top of Honey’s head as she rested her head on his thigh. Diesel was curled up at Niall’s feet and for once, Niall wasn’t freaking out about having Diesel close to him.

“So Niall. How’s that girlfriend of yours?” Zayn asked, sliding a few chips into the center of the table.

“How’s my girl? Let me tell ya how my girl is.” Niall gave a cocky smirk and pulled a worn picture out of the pocket of his sweatpants. “How about smokin’ hot!” he crowed and held the picture up for Zayn to see. Niall’s girlfriend truly was beautiful, even Louis could agree. She had fair skin and brilliant red hair with a smattering of freckles over her cheeks and nose.

Louis rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Yeah, but you know what’s missing from that picture?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. One of us is on the way, I’m sure,” Niall insisted.

“Sure it is,” Louis drew out, sarcasm soaking through his words. He truly loved being a menace.

“Yeah, fuck off Tommo!” Niall huffed.

“Language, Niall,” Rosemary scolded from across the room where she was sitting with Harry and Andrew.

“I’m not even going to apologize for that one. He deserved it,” Niall muttered and set down his cards. “I’m out.”

“In,” Zayn hummed and slid a few chips into the pot.

“Out,” Liam sighed.

“In,” Louis smirked.

In the end, Louis ended up winning and cheered happily that he wouldn’t have to do dishes for the rest of the week as a reward. As they cleaned up the cards, he heard Harry and Andrew talking about the expedition.

“Wait a second. I thought the plan was to go to Dry Valley.” Louis frowned from where he was sitting.

“Well, that was the plan. But now you need to go to Mount Levski,” Andy informed.

“That’s not going to happen. I was told we were going to Dry Valley,” Louis insisted.

“Yeah, sorry. We examined more data and it looks like the meteor is actually located at Mount Levski. It was just an estimate before but with more information, I can confirm the location,” Harry explained.

“I’m telling you that’s not a good idea.” Louis frowned and got up from his seat, making his way over to the maps Harry and Andrew were studying. “Let me show you something, Doc. This right here, this is Dry Valley.” He gestured to a location south of the base. “And all the way up here is Mount Levski. Twice as far and in the opposite direction. Now, I’ve been over our route to Dry Valley a few times in the last week to check on conditions, but I haven’t been to Mount Levski in almost two months. I’m not sure it’s even safe for us to go up there.”

“Louis, you’ve been up to Mount Levski before at this time of year. I’m sure the route will be fine,” Andrew said calmly.

“It’s really late in the season, Andy. There’s no way to tell how thick the ice is. We definitely can’t take the snowmobiles, the only way for us to get there is with the dogs.”

“So, take the dogs. They’ve run it before.”

“Andy, I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” Louis insisted.

“I’m telling you that it’ll be fine. Take the dogs and be careful. You’ll be okay.”

Louis clenched his jaw and nodded with a sigh. “Okay. You’re the boss.”

Harry looked wildly uncomfortable with the arguing, chewing on his cheek as his eyes flicked between Andy and Louis.

Louis gave a tight-lipped smile before turning and snapping his fingers. “C’mon kids. Time for bed.”

Harry watched as most of the dogs got to their feet and followed Louis towards the door.

“Niall, say goodnight to Diesel.” Louis smiled, but the smile was still a little forced.

“Uh. Yeah. Goodnight Diesel,” Niall said weakly, giving a weird wave at the dog.

“No, Ni. You’ve gotta show him some affection. You’re going to give him a complex,” Louis giggled and gestured towards the big fluffy malamute.

“What about me, Lou? What about my complex?” Niall stuck out his tongue with a strong eye roll but walked over and patted Diesel on the head hesitantly. “Goodnight.”

Louis grinned and pulled on his coat. “Alright, c’mon Dies. Time to go.”

Niall flinched as Diesel jumped to his feet with a loud bark and ran over to Louis at the door.

After taking care of his eight dogs and making sure they were all set for the night, Louis joined the others again before bed. He sat by the furnace with a worn-in quilt across his lap, listening to everyone else chatting and getting to know Harry. Louis’ eyes grew heavy as the night went on, until he could barely keep them open. Yawning sleepily, he ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes before getting to his feet.

Once in the bunk room, Louis stripped out of his sweater and leggings to change into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. One by one, Niall, Liam, Zayn, Harry, Rosemary, and Andy joined him. Louis watched from a top bunk as Harry settled into one of the bottom bunks and pulled out a small journal and pencil. After a few minutes, Niall came back from the bathroom and walked over to where Harry was sitting on the bunk.

“Scuse me,” Niall hummed.

“Oh, sorry,” Harry said softly, leaning forward to get up just as Niall yanked the twin mattress from the top bunk and smacked Harry on the back of the head, pulling an _oof_ out of him.

“Oops!” Niall laughed as Harry rubbed the back of his head with a hint of a blush across his cheeks.

Louis rolled his eyes at Niall and sighed.

“Sad fact, Doc, the floor is more comfortable than the bunks.” Niall shrugged and crawled under his blankets with a hot water bottle.

“Here you go, Doctor Styles. Sleep with this,” Rosemary offered a hot water bottle to the curly-haired man.

“Just Harry is fine,” Harry assured and accepted the bottle from the older woman.

“We turn the generators off at night, so I suggest you sleep with something to keep you warm,” Andy recommended as he flipped the switch to the generators.

“Hey Niall,” Louis trailed off. “Incoming!” He warned and tossed one of his slippers off the top of the bunk, hitting Niall right in the head with a victorious smirk.

Niall scowled up at Louis and flipped him the finger before rolling over onto his side.

*

Over the next few days, Louis did what he could to prepare for their trip to Mount Levski. He had planned on spending two days traveling to Dry Valley but now he had to prepare for a four-day trip heading north. On the day of their departure, Louis woke up a little earlier than usual to help Harry pack up the sled.

“G’morning,” Louis yawned as he wandered into the kitchen.

Harry’s gaze dragging down Louis’ bare torso went unnoticed by the other man as he turned on the coffee pot to make them both some coffee.

“Good morning,” Harry murmured with a smile, fingers twitching with the desire to run his fingers through Louis’ messy morning hair and skate his hands across his bare chest and down his sides. This crush of his may or may not have escalated over the past few days and he definitely was letting lust for Louis get out of hand.

Louis hummed to himself softly, cocking a hip as he watched the coffee drip down into the pitcher rhythmically. He grabbed one of his favorite mugs from the cupboard and offered one to Harry, who accepted with a grateful smile. The two sat together in relative silence as they sipped on their steaming cups of coffee.

“So, are you excited to hit the trail?” Louis asked quietly.

“Incredibly. This is such a big deal. This could be the biggest discovery of modern history,” Harry murmured.

Louis nodded. “We better not die in the process of getting it then.”

“Yes. That would definitely put a damper on this scientific victory,” Harry agreed jokingly.

“Can’t have that, now can we?”

“Nope. So how are we going to celebrate once we find it?” Harry asked, though he could think of plenty of ways to celebrate with Louis.

“Beers on me?” Louis suggested.

“Maybe. That could work. Or I could take you out for drinks once we’re back to civilization?” Harry asked hopefully.

Louis blushed and shrugged. “Maybe. That could work,” he parroted back with a shy smile. He was truly terrible at the whole flirting thing, but he couldn’t deny that Harry was definitely handsome and from what he had noticed at night when Harry was changing for bed, his body was firm and his muscles were well defined. He was exactly what Louis typically went for, but it had been ages since Louis had been with someone and he had a hard time navigating these situations.

He finished his mug and got to his feet. “I’m gonna get changed.”

Harry nodded and watched Louis go, eyes drifting down to Louis’ ass until he disappeared into the bunkroom. He made himself another cup of coffee and wrote for a bit in his journal, heart beating quickly in excitement for their journey to Mount Levski. The coffee had gone right through him, so he got to his feet to use the restroom. He could hear shuffling in the bunkroom, so he figured Louis was in there changing. He yawned and shoved the door to the bathroom open, walking right into a wet and naked body.

“Oh, god! So sorry!” He gasped and leaned down to help Louis up off the ground.

Louis blushed bright red from his cheeks down to his chest, feeling Harry’s eyes on him. Having Harry watch him and see so much of him ignited a small fire low in his tummy.

“Um. It’s uh. It’s okay,” Louis breathed, reaching for his towel as he allowed Harry to help him up. Upon getting to his feet, he slipped on a puddle of water and fell forward into Harry’s chest.

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck. He’s naked. And I’m touching him. He’s touching ME. His hands are on my sides. Fuck._

“Shit, sorry!” Louis winced.

Harry’s breathing picked up a bit, hands tightening slightly on Louis’ sides. His heartbeat quickened, a cloud of desire settling in him. Green met blue in heavy gazes as they stared at each other.

“Um,” Louis whispered, glancing down at their bodies. He was risking a major boner right now and they needed to get going.

“Right. Sorry,” Harry laughed awkwardly and backed away, tearing his eyes from Louis and turning away. “I’ll um. I’ll be out here.”

Louis nodded and wrapped a towel around his waist as Harry turned and left. Exhaling forcefully, he rubbed the palms of his hands over his eyes and shook those increasingly dirty thoughts out of his head.

Once he was dressed in thermal leggings and a sweatshirt, he left the bathroom to let Harry in. Keeping his eyes downcast, he went into the bunkroom to find socks and pack a few warm sets of clothes to bring on their expedition.

When both were dressed in warm clothes, they made their way outside into the cold morning air. Louis helped Harry haul the cases of equipment that Harry would need to the sled. Once they stepped near the sled, Maverik, the youngest of Louis’ team jumped to his feet. He knew exactly what the sled meant; he knew they would soon be running. A few of the other dogs got to their feet, watching Louis and Harry load the sled with tails wagging furiously.

“Alright, so, formal introductions.” Louis led Harry over to the two biggest dogs. “This is Dakota and Diesel, the two malamutes of the team. These two boys are oak trees, unshakable and wise beyond their years. Diesel here, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, is a big fan of Niall’s but alas, unrequited love.”

Harry laughed and nodded, scratching both behind the ears.

“They’re the wheel dogs, which means they need to be the strongest of the bunch to pull more of the weight from the sled than the other dogs. Next, we have Aspen and Maverik here. Aspen’s a good girl, and she loves to cuddle with absolutely everyone.” Louis stroked her reddish-brown fur. “Maverik is the youngster. He’s got tons of potential, just needs to settle down a little bit and learn the importance of being a team player. I’m hoping to train him to eventually be a lead dog. Until then, he’ll be back here with Aspen to learn the ropes.” Louis moved on to the next set of dogs. “The all-white one is Tundra, he’s one of the swing dogs. He loves peanut butter. If you open a jar from a few rooms away, he’ll come running over to you just from the sound of the lid unscrewing. Then we have the gray one, Sitka. He’s the other swing dog. If either of the two lead dogs grows tired, the swing dogs are trained to be able to take the lead should they need to. Sitka and Honey are brother and sister. And Honey’s my best lead girl. She’s been with me through a lot and I’d be lost without her.” He smiled and kissed her between the eyes. “Lastly, Timber. He’s a goofy fella and he loves playing. He could chase after tennis balls for three days straight if you let him.”

Harry nodded as Louis went down the line, giving each dog affection.

“And that’s all of them. All eight of my kids,” Louis said proudly with a smile. He could talk about these dogs for hours and he loves every one of them with all of his heart.

“Lovely to meet you all,” Harry addressed the dogs with a slow and teasing drawl.

Louis laughed and nudged Harry away as Niall, Andy, and Rosemary came outside to see them off.

“Alright, let’s get a photo of our brave team!” Niall called out, pulling out a camera.

Louis laughed and stood by Harry, holding his arms up and posing like a muscle man while Harry simply smiled brightly and rested a hand low on Louis’ back.

“Handsome. So handsome.” Niall laughed after taking a few shots.

“Alright, well we better hit the road so we don’t run out of daylight,” Louis announced and pulled on his snow glasses.

Harry nodded, letting Louis help him onto the sled to sit on top of the cargo.

“Be safe, you two!” Rosemary called out.

“We’ll see you in a week or so,” Andrew added and waved them off.

“Alright, kids let’s have some fun! Ready? Hike!” Louis shouted and eased up off the brake, holding on to the sled as the dogs lurched forward and broke into an easy run.

*

The two men took in the tundra around them, soaking in the sight of the mountains and bright blue skies with fluffy white clouds. They didn’t speak much while they rode the sled and it wasn’t until they arrived at the location they would camp at for the night that the two spoke again.

“So, how did you get into this?” Harry asked, helping Louis pull the tent bag out of the sled.

“Into what?” Louis asked, driving a stake into the ground to keep the dogs hitched safely.

“Dog sledding and how did you end up down here?” Harry clarified.

“Well, I suppose it was destiny or something. In college I felt lost. High school was the best time of my life. I was popular in high school. I had a girlfriend, I was co-captain of the soccer team, and I made friends easily. When I left to go to college everything changed. My girlfriend and I broke up when I came out and I wasn’t good enough to play soccer in college. I felt like my world was melting away and everything I thought I knew about myself was stripped away until there was nothing left. I truly didn’t know who I was.” Louis explained and helped Harry pitch the tent.

“At some point, I just said ‘fuck it’ and threw caution to the wind. I felt like I just needed to experience the world, so I signed up to go on a school trip to Alaska for a month. It was just supposed to be a short study abroad program during my sophomore year. In hindsight, I know that I was pretty depressed at the time. One day we came across a sled dog team and I was hooked. I tried it out a bit and found that I absolutely loved it. When I felt the wind in my hair and listened to the dogs working, I felt whole again. I dunno how to really explain it, I guess. But once I got started, I couldn’t stop. When I had to go home, I felt empty again. So, I dropped out of college once I had completed the semester and moved to Alaska. I kind of just bugged the shit out of the locals until one of them agreed to teach me how to run a team of sled dogs. A few years later I moved back to Washington and connected with a Native American man and convinced him to let me work for him. Burt had connections to NSF and things just kind of fell into place after that.”

“Wow. That’s amazing,” Harry said in awe. “How old are you?” He asked curiously.

“Doc, you should know better than to ask a gentleman his age,” Louis teased, tossing a half-hearted fist against Harry’s shoulder. “But if you must know, I’m twenty-six.”

Harry nodded and let them finish up setting up the tent without the interruption of conversation. Having finished getting their campsite set up, Louis worked on getting a fire going to cook dinner over.

“So how old are you then, Doctor Styles?” Louis asked, using his fire-starting kit to get a small flame going in a bundle of kindling.

“I thought it was inappropriate to ask a gentleman his age?” Harry smirked, tilting his head to the side.

“I never said you were a gentleman,” Louis hummed casually.

“And what would that make me then?”

“I dunno. Something a little less… boring.”

“Babe, you are far from boring so if I’m not a gentleman then neither are you,” Harry insisted, tentatively resting a hand on Louis’ knee.

Louis blushed and swallowed around a lump that had lodged itself in his throat as things wandered away from a simply platonic conversation.

“But to answer your question, I turned thirty last month.”

Louis nodded and leaned in to gently blow on the flame to stoke the fire and get it going.

“So now you know how I found myself at the bottom of the world. What about you? How did you get here?” He asked.

“That’s not too long of a story, I guess. In college, I was working on my generals when I figured out that I loved everything science. I also loved teaching so I figured I would study to become a professor because I couldn’t pick between the two. After a few years, I was offered some funding to work on a project and after some research, I discovered a meteor from Mercury had landed here in Antarctica.” Harry explained briefly. He knew all of the scientific details were pretty boring to people who weren’t in the field, so he was used to keeping it pretty surface level.

“Research like what?” Louis asked, surprising Harry.

“You’re not really interested in all the details.” Harry shrugged.

“No, I am. Tell me. I want to know more,” Louis insisted. “You’re passionate about it and I like it when people are passionate about things. I want to hear you talk about it.”

Harry nodded hesitantly before explaining more. He went on to explain exactly what his research had included and what data indicated that the meteor landed at Mount Levski. Louis listened intently through it all, never once looking bored or indicating that he had lost interest in what Harry was saying.

As Louis watched Harry speak, he noticed that Harry licked his lips when he was excited, and he didn’t fidget with his hands as much like he was more confident and held his head a little higher. Louis liked it. The confidence was, dare he say, sexy. And every time Harry’s tongue darted out to lick his lips, Louis’ eyes followed the movement of the pink muscle across Harry’s plump lips turned dark pink from the cold.

Louis continued listening to Harry but moved to warm some soup over the fire in a lightweight tin pot. He settled the pot over the coals and added chicken stock and noodles before setting the lid over the pot.

After feeding the dogs their dinner, Louis and Harry settled in next to the fire to enjoy the hot soup served out of tin cups with small spoons that packed away easily. Louis definitely wasn’t a very good cook but out here that didn’t matter much.

“Sorry, I’m not a very good cook. You’ve been blessed to get to eat Rosemary’s cooking the last few days, there’s a reason we let her do all the cooking,” Louis chuckled.

“That’s alright. It’s warm and fills your tummy so that’s good enough for me.” Harry shrugged.

“Are you a good cook?” Louis asked, moving to sit inside the tent to get out of the breeze.

“I like to think so. I love baking more than anything else, but I feel comfortable and enjoy experimenting in the kitchen.”

“What’s the best thing you’ve ever made, do you think?”

“I make a great Sunday roast. I learned how to make it from my mum, and she learned it from her mum. It’s a family recipe that’s been passed down for ages.”

“I’ve never had Sunday roast,” Louis mused, sipping the broth.

“Well that just won’t do,” Harry gasped. “You haven’t lived until you’ve tried it. Maybe I could make it for you sometime?”

Louis smiled softly and nodded. “I think I’d like that.”

He wrapped his hands around the mug and let himself lean slightly off to the side towards Harry’s direction. Harry followed his movements and scooted closer. “S cold,” he whispered.

Louis nodded and looked up at Harry through his lashes. “Isn’t it always?”

Harry shrugged and bit his lip, lifting a hand tentatively to Louis’ cheek.

Louis’ eyes widened and found Harry’s. He licked his lips and kept as still as possible as Harry’s thumb brushed over his cheek and skated over his top lip. The goosebumps that erupted over his arms weren’t from the cold. Heat rose to his cheeks as he stared at Harry.

Harry smiled down at Louis, slipping his other fingers through the hair at the back of Louis’ neck. “You feel warm though. Like a space heater.”

Louis nodded shakily, biting his lip as he allowed himself to slowly lean forward ever so slightly as he was drawn to Harry.

“You’re kind of beautiful, you know,” Harry whispered, causing a flush of pink to come to the other man’s cheeks.

“Nah,” Louis begins to say only to be interrupted by Harry pressing his finger to Louis’ lips.

“No, you are. Don’t let yourself believe anything different.”

Louis jumped as one of the dogs barked outside, pulling him from his trance. “I need to check on them,” he whispered and pulled away from Harry.

He ducked out of the tent and checked on the dogs, finding that one of Aspen’s paws was bleeding. Louis applied an ointment and wrapped her paw. It should be better in the morning, but just in case he would put booties on her paws. He cared for the other dogs, checking their paws and giving them water before he returned to the tent.

Harry looked up as Louis entered and smiled. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Aspen’s paws were bleeding a little. It’s not unusual when the dogs run on ice, but she should be alright in the morning,” Louis explained and moved to unroll his sleeping bag and set up his things inside the tent. He could feel Harry’s eyes on him. “So. Do you have anyone special back home?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I don’t. Life has been pretty full of nothing but work. In my free time I visit my mum and sister.”

“Oh? Tell me about them?” Louis requested as he sat down on his sleeping bag.

Harry began to unroll his sleeping bag as well. “Well, my mum’s name is Anne. She’s wonderful, truly. I couldn’t have asked for a better mum. She has always been supportive of both myself and my older sister Gemma and she works hard to make sure we have a place to land when things get crazy. Gemma works with an organization that counsels women in need of assistance getting back into the workforce, whether that be because they were stay-at-home mothers, or they’re having a hard time adjusting to life outside of an abusive relationship. She’s a saint, really.”

Louis nodded. “She sounds like it. How much older is she than you?”

“Four years. And she doesn’t let me forget it,” Harry chuckled. “I don’t think there’s a Christmas that’s gone by where she hasn’t cut in front of me in line for food claiming ‘age before beauty.’ She’s great though. She was my protector in high school. I was all lanky limbs and acne, which made me a prime target for all of the seniors when they found out I was gay. When she found out a few of her friends were in on the teasing, she gave them hell. I remember her leaving school in the middle of lunch hour to run down to the corner store and buy three dozen eggs. By the end of the day, the car of every one of her friends who had made fun of me were covered in dried on eggs and eggshells.”

“Good sister.” Louis nodded approvingly. “It’s our job as older siblings to kick the shit out of people who make fun of our younger siblings. Only we are allowed to make fun of them.”

“That’s exactly what Gems says.” Harry laughed. “But what about you? Tell me about your family?”

“Sure. Well, there’s a herd of us. The seven, well six, of us could start our own baseball team, though the twins are a little young for that,” Louis joked, picking at a thread on his snow pants. “The youngest in my family are Ernie and Doris. They’re six now, they actually just had their birthday last month. Then there’s another set of twins, Phoebe and Daisy. They’re sixteen and my god, they scare me. They’re growing up so fast and they think they can take on the world. Felicite was only a few years older than them when she passed away last year. It hit Lottie pretty hard, she’s only 22 and she’s been through a lot.”

Harry frowned and looked down at Louis’ hands. “That’s horrible. That must have been so hard on your mum.”

“She died a few years earlier. But it was hard on my stepdad. He’s had to be a rock for them, but I know that it hurts. My mom dying was part of what made me realize I needed to find something that made me happy. Life is really fucking short and I didn’t want to waste it hating myself and being miserable all the time.”

Harry sighed softly and crawled over to Louis, resting a gloved hand on his arm. He didn’t have words, so he wrapped an arm around Louis’ shoulders and squeezed.

“I’m alright, Harry,” Louis promised, resting his hand on top of the one on his arm.

“That’s just so awful. And I can’t even imagine the pain.”

“Then don’t. It happened and yes, it was hard, but I’ve learned that I can’t hold onto it. I don’t hold onto the pain of losing her, I hold onto all of the memories I have with her. That’s what matters the most, and I know that it’s what she would have wanted me to do.”

Harry nodded slowly, a curl slipping out from under his hat. “You’re really something, you know that?”

Louis cracked a small smile. “I’m a lot of things, Doctor Styles.”

Harry’s lips quirked up in a smirk and tilted his head in curiosity. “Why do you call me Doc?”

Louis shrugged, poking at Harry’s dimpled cheek. “Dunno. Part of it is probably because I think it’s very impressive that you have a doctorate, even though that doesn’t make you a doctor-doctor.”

Harry rolled his eyes but smiled anyways at Louis. “You don’t have to you know. You can just call me Harry.”

“I know. But I kind of like calling you Doc sometimes. Is that alright?”

Harry smirked slightly and leaned a little closer to Louis’ ear. “Babe, you can call me whatever you’d like,” he murmured.

Louis felt a shiver go down his spine as Harry’s breath tickled his ear. He was thankful for the cold that could be blamed for the way heat flared up in his cheeks and they turned pink. Harry just made him so nervous, but not in a bad way. The older man made the butterflies in Louis’ tummy erupt in a fluttering mess and his thoughts scattered in his presence.

Harry glanced down as the tip of Louis’ tongue darted out to lick his lips, his gaze narrowing in on the rosy pink of his lips.

Louis panicked internally, scooting back to relieve some of the tension. He tried not to notice the disappointment that flickered across Harry’s face and distracted himself with laying out his things and sliding his boots off his feet and into a pair of thick moccasins that he could wear inside his sleeping back to keep his feet warm. His snow pants and parka followed next along with his hat and mittens until he was in a thick fluffy jumper and fleece-lined leggings. The tent was small enough that Harry and Louis’ sleeping bags were only a few inches apart, allowing their shared body to heat to keep them warm enough without their snow gear.

Harry took off his own snow pants, boots, and parka before slipping his legs into his sleeping bag. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he watched Louis, thoughts spiraling through his head.

“You look like you’re thinking awfully hard over there. Everything alright?” Louis asked, running his hands through his hair to fix his hat hair.

Harry blinked as he snapped out of his circle of though. “Oh. Yes. Everything’s fine.”

Louis lifted an eyebrow curiously. “What were you thinking about?”

“Just,” Harry sighed. “I was just thinking about how you kind of back away or avoid me whenever I, like, move closer to you,” he said softly, keeping his eyes down. He tried not to take it personally, he really did. But He couldn’t help but feel self-conscious like there was something wrong with him.

Louis looked down at the ground and chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Sorry. I’m just, well to be honest with you, I’m not very good at this whole thing. I’ve been out of the game for a really long time and you kind of intimidate me a little,” Louis admitted, scratching the back of his neck and hunching in on himself a little.

“I intimidate you?” Harry questioned.

“Yeah. A bit. You’re just… You’re very handsome and smooth and intelligent and all sorts of nice things and that intimidates me.”

Harry smiled softly and used his pointer and thumb to tilt Louis’ chin up to meet Harry’s gaze. “Lou, I hope you realize that you are also very handsome and smooth and intelligent. You’re also beautiful, funny, kind, and gentle when you want to be. You yourself can be a little intimidating. But you also drive me a little crazy when you walk around the base with your hips swaying and you really need to stop bending over in your leggings to pick things up. You’re very distracting.” He grinned down at Louis.

A soft smile spread across Louis’ lips. “Distracting, huh?” He murmured and let the space between them grow smaller.

“Mhmm. Very,” Harry breathed before closing the gap completely and nudging his lips against Louis’ gently. He felt Louis melt into him as he slid his hand from Louis’ chin to hold his cheek, reveling in the warmth of his skin.

Louis couldn’t help but smile against Harry’s lips. He shifted their bodies closer and rested a hand on Harry’s chest, feeling the firm muscle under his palms. He dragged his lips against Harry’s and soaked in the feeling of his pillowy, soft lips against his own. _Fuck_ , Harry was a good kisser. Gradually, he let Harry deepen the kiss, letting his lips part as Harry’s tongue poked against his bottom lip. Their tongues met and swirled together. Louis slid his hands up Harry’s chest to cup his jaw, feeling the prickle of his facial against his palms.

Time felt like it slowed, their lips and hands moving languidly like caramel dripping slowly off a spoon. They could have been kissing for only seconds, or for minutes or for hours, Louis hadn’t a clue. His mind was filled with _Harry, Harry, Harry_. His breath caught as Harry sucked on his bottom lip and nibbled lightly, pulling a very quiet moan out of Louis. Harry pressed a kiss over the right corner of his mouth, then the middle, and finally on the left corner of his mouth before he reluctantly pulled away. Louis whined as Harry’s lips left his and his eyes flickered open.

Harry smiled and skated his fingers up and down Louis’ sides. “I told you, distracting.”

Louis laughed breathlessly and grinned, reaching up to push a curl off Harry’s forehead. “I guess you’re right.”

Harry chuckled and leaned in to kiss Louis’ cheeks and nose, causing Louis to scrunch his face up.

“We should really go to bed. We have to be up early tomorrow,” Louis murmured and pulled away from Harry, lest he grab Harry’s face and start kissing him again.

“You wanna share a sleeping bag?” Harry joked playfully and dodged Louis’ hand as he reached up to flick his dimple.

Louis snorted and shook his head. “This sleeping bag isn’t big enough for the two of us.”

“Bummer. Guess I’ll just have to sleep over here all by my lonesome,” Harry sighed dramatically.

“I know, the full three inches between our sleeping bags feels like an ocean but you’ll be fine, Doctor Styles.”

When Louis woke up the next morning, he had apparently scooted his sleeping bag over to Harry until he was tucked up tightly against him with his head pillowed under Harry’s chin against his chest. With heavy eyelids, he opened his eyes and looked up at Harry, marveling at his features. Louis smiled sleepily and ran his fingertips over Harry’s lips and trailed them across his cheek and up to push the hair out of his face. He fondly watched as Harry scrunched up his nose and groaned, wrapping his arms tightly around Louis and pulling him closer before burying his face in Louis’ hair.

“Harry, it’s time to get up. We need to get going,” Louis murmured, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He could feel Harry pout against the top of his head, and he heard the quiet whine escape his lips. “Come on, I’ll make us some coffee,” Louis promised.

With a sigh, Harry finally released Louis and rolled onto his back with a stretch. “S fucking cold,” he mumbled grumpily.

“I know, so think how nice a cup of coffee will be.” Louis slowly climbed out of his sleeping bag and pulled on his snow pants, parka, boots, and hat and gloves. “I’ll be outside with the dogs.”

He slipped out of the tent and quickly zipped the flap back up to keep as much cold air from getting into the tent as possible.

“Good morning, kids,” Louis hummed and clapped his hands, waking a few of the dogs up. “Time for breakfast!” He reached into the sled and pulled out the food for the team.

Louis made his rounds and checked on each dog, taking extra time to examine Aspen’s foot that seemed much better than the day before. He still fastened the booties to her feet to prevent any further injury. Once the dogs were taken care of, he got the fire going and set a pot with water on the coals. After a few minutes, he heard the tent unzip and looked up to see Harry climb out of the tent.

“He lives,” Louis teased.

Harry shrugged with a smile and plopped down next to Louis at the fire. “I dunno. Still feel kind of dead. I might need mouth-to-mouth.”

Louis rolled his eyes and pushed Harry’s shoulder, resulting in him falling over onto his side.

“Rude!” Harry exclaimed, grabbing a handful of snow and tossing it at Louis, receiving a giggle in return.

After a cup of coffee and granola bars for breakfast, the two men packed up the tent and assembled the team. They rode on the sled for a few hours before Louis called out to the dogs.

“Whoa!” He shouted, resulting in the dogs to come to a stop.

“What’s up?” Harry asked, looking around from his position seated on the sled.

“Here, take a look,” Louis sighed and handed a pair of binoculars to Harry and pointed ahead.

Harry held them up to his face and squinted through them. “What am I looking at?”

“Ice fields ahead. This is why we couldn’t take the machines. They’re very dangerous, step in the wrong spot and you can fall through huge cracks in the ice.”

“Oh,” Harry murmured. “So what do we do?”

Louis stomped on the brake hook to keep the dogs from moving and walked around the sled. “I need to switch up the lines and put the dogs in a fan formation. It’s a little slower but it helps to spread out their weight.”

Louis grabbed a few lines of rope and moved towards the dogs to rearrange them with Harry’s help. After the dogs were hitched up in their new formation, Louis got back on the runners of the sled and grabbed the brake hook. “Alright, nice and easy Honey. C’mon team, let’s hike!” He called out and they took off again, their pace slower than before but they still made some progress.

Every so often Louis would glance down at Harry to catch him gazing across the tundra through his snow goggles. Harry would sense Louis watching him and crane his head back to look up at him with a smile that made Louis’ insides flutter. During one of these exchanges, Louis heard a low crack.

“Whoa!” He shouted. “Whoa, team, whoa!”

“What the hell was that?” Harry gasped, sitting up straighter.

“We’re on a glacier,” Louis explained, keeping the dread out of his voice. Glaciers were not something you wanted to be on, he’d heard many horror stories from other seasoned expedition guides. But he didn’t want to freak Harry out. “Harry, I need you back here to drive.”

Harry frowned and turned his body to look at Louis. “Wait, what?”

“I have to probe ahead. I need you to stand back here.” Louis stomped the brake hook into the ice and grabbed a collapsible pole from the sled, pulling it to extend it to its full length.

Harry climbed off the sled and walked back to where Louis stood.

“Keep both feet on the brake. It won’t make them stop completely but it’ll slow them down,” Louis ordered and walked up to the dogs. “I need you to slowly ease up on the brake and follow my footsteps. Do not go off my trail.”

Harry nodded, sucking his lip into his mouth and biting on it anxiously.

“Alright, Honey, hike,” Louis ordered his lead dog, and motioned for Harry to ease off the brake.

Louis led them forward, stabbing the pole into the ice to feel for any cracks that might be hidden under the snow. Harry was doing a great job with the dogs, calling out a few encouragements like he watched Louis do for the last day and a half.

After two hours of Louis walking ahead of the team, Louis stabbed the pole into the snow, this time feeling no resistance as the pole shot into the ice all the way to Louis’ hand.

“Harry, stop! Whoa, team whoa!” Louis shouted, holding his free hand up.

Harry quickly stomped on the brake, though the team had immediately listened to Louis.

“Alright, Harry. Keep your foot on the brake! There’s a huge fucking crack right here. I’m going to call Honey over and we’re going to go around this thing,” Louis explained, using the pole to probe where it was safe to walk as he slowly made his way off to the left of the team. “Honey, haw!” He shouted. “Haw!”

Honey pulled against her harness and followed Louis’ commands to go left. The rest of the team followed Honey’s lead as the team started to turn the sled left.

Out of the corner of his eye, Louis saw Maverik pull hard against his harness, wanting to be able to run fast. “Maverik, no! Haw, Maverik!” He screamed but watched in horror as Maverik yanked against the lines, causing the sled to jerk to the right as Harry gasped. Louis ran towards the sled as it fell backward through the crack, Harry screaming as he held onto the sled as tightly as he could when the snow gave way to reveal a crack just wide enough to fit the sled through it and deep enough that he couldn’t see the bottom.

“Fuck, Harry hold on!” Louis yelled, sprinting to the sled and grabbing hold of the front of the sled. “Hold on, Harry!” He pleaded and looked back at his team. “Hike! C’mon pull hard!”

Honey and Timber thrust their weight into the harnesses, barking at the other dogs and pulling with all their strength. The dogs got the sled up a few inches, but Harry was still holding onto the sled with his feet dangling into the chasm.

“Hold on, Harry!” Louis yelled, feeling his heart beating wildly out of his chest. He had been in a situation like this before, so he knew what to do, but this time he found himself beginning to panic internally. He couldn’t bear the thought of being responsible for Harry falling to his death. He cried out as he pulled with all his might on the sled, feeling tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. No. He could not cry. He needed to focus on getting Harry out.

Louis clenched his jaw to focus himself and yelled out as he yanked on the sled, getting it another few inches out of the fissure. With a final tug, Louis and the team of dogs got the sled far enough out to reach Harry. Louis grabbed Harry’s parka by the collar and pulled Harry out of the crack, toppling over with Harry on top of him.

Harry cried out in relief, his entire body trembling on top of Louis with his hands gripping tightly to Louis’ arms.

“Oh my god,” Louis breathed out in relief, wrapping his arms around Harry to hold him close.

Harry sobbed into Louis’ chest, still trying to catch his breath from having his entire life flash before his eyes.

“You’re okay, Harry. Everything’s okay,” Louis murmured, his heart still beating erratically. He pulled Harry’s goggles up off his eyes and yanked his own gloves off to cup Harry’s cheek. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re alright. You’re safe.”

Harry just cried and clung to Louis, tears spilling down his cheeks.

“I know. It’s okay, you’re okay.” Louis kept repeating, wiping the tears when they fell and rubbing his thumbs over Harry’s skin as he calmed himself down.

The two sat there for nearly twenty minutes with Louis murmuring softly to Harry as the latter tried to breathe through the snot and tears. Slowly, Harry’s tears stopped and Louis pressed his lips against Harry’s forehead, running his fingers through his hair gently. Harry buried his face in Louis’ chest and let out a shuttered breath.

“Lou… I thought I was gonna die,” Harry sniffled quietly, wiping at his nose.

“I know, babe. But you’re okay,” Louis whispered and rubbed Harry’s back. “I need to get us out of here, okay? You need to get back on the sled and I’ll get us out of here and find somewhere safe to camp for the rest of the day.”

Harry nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. “Okay.”

Louis kissed Harry gently and fixed the hat on his head. “Alright, let’s get you up.”

Louis helped Harry to his feet and made sure the sled was on solid ice before helping him get settled on the runners. Harry gave Louis a grateful but small smile and squeezed his hand in thanks.

“You’re okay,” Louis said again before walking over to Maverik and unclipping him from the fan formation. He led him towards the sled and hitched him on a much shorter lead to make sure he wouldn’t disobey and put them in danger again.

“Just like before, Harry. Keep your feet on the brake and follow me,” Louis reminded and grabbed the pole again, leading the team forward and away from the fissure in the ice.

It took the team a few hours to get off the glacier and to safety. When Louis finally deemed it safe, he called the team to a stop. As soon as the dogs came to a halt, he made his way over to Harry and wrapped him up in a hug.

“Good job, babe. You did a really good job,” he murmured, rubbing Harry’s back.

Harry sighed and leaned into Louis’ body, hugging him back just as tightly. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Louis shook his head and pulled back to hold Harry’s face in his hands. “You do not need to thank me for that.”

“Yes, I do. I could have fucking died back there. But you saved me. You literally yanked me out of the ice and saved my life,” Harry breathed, blinking back tears. “I will never not be thankful to you.”

Louis simply smiled and hugged him close once more. “Let’s get the tent up and get some food in that stomach.”

After Louis fed the dogs, he and Harry settled around the fire to eat the soup that Harry had helped Louis cook.

“Has something like that ever happened to you before?” Harry asked, wrapping his hands around the tin mug of soup to warm them.

“Uh, kinda. I’ve had one of my dogs fall in before. And there was another expedition I was on where a scientist I was hauling around fell off the sled and hurt himself. But that was probably the worst incident so far,” Louis admitted.

“What’s going to happen with Maverik?”

“He’s still just a pup, he’s only a year and a half old. He’s still pretty new so I can’t blame him really for what happened. He’ll continue to run with the team, but I can’t punish him for wanting to do what he loves. If he were an older dog that should know better, I wouldn’t take him on any more dangerous runs, but he’s still learning,” Louis sighed, looking over to the young dog. It was awful what had happened, but it truly wasn’t Maverik’s fault and Louis refused to punish him.

Harry nodded. “Good. I’m glad he’s not in trouble or anything.”

Louis leaned over and rested his head on Harry’s shoulder, staring at the small flickering flame for a few minutes. “Yeah. I was terrified that I was going to lose you and it would be all my fault,” he whispered.

“You would have felt that if any of the people you were guiding got hurt.”

Louis shook his head but caught himself and shrugged. “I mean, yes and no. I would still feel terrible and take it really hard, but it felt worse with you. I just. I like you in a different way and the thought of you being gone because of me… Well, it hurts.”

Harry chewed on his lip. “You like me?”

Louis nodded. “A lot.”

A smile crept across Harry’s face and he wrapped an arm around Louis. “I like you too. A lot.”

After they ate, Louis and Harry crawled into the tent to get out of the cold and change out of their snow pants and parkas. Harry had bruised up his side pretty bad when he fell through the ice, so Louis helped him get out of his parka, frowning as Harry winced slightly.

“Lay down on your sleeping bag, I’m gonna check that bruise of yours,” Louis murmured and kicked off his boots to slip on his moccasins.

Harry did as Louis said, laying on his back and propping himself up on his elbows. Louis crouched beside Harry and lifted Harry’s sweater up to check the bruise out.

“I don’t think you did anything too major, just bruised yourself pretty bad,” he noted, lightly feeling around the bruise with his fingertips. He looked up to catch Harry staring at him. “What?”

“Come here,” Harry hummed, grabbing Louis’ hand. “Please.”

Louis rolled his eyes playfully. “So demanding.” He scooted closer to Harry.

Harry reached up and cupped Louis cheek, brushing his thumb over the younger man’s high cheekbones. He smiled as Louis tilted his head into his touch. Leaning, he tilted Louis’ face and let his eyes flutter shut as their lips inched closer.

Louis closed the distance between them and formed his lips to Harry’s, humming softly. Kissing Harry felt like such a relief. He could have lost him earlier today and he hadn’t felt this strongly about anyone in a while, despite having only known him for a little less than a week.

One of Harry’s hands slipped down to Louis’ hip, squeezing as he deepened the kiss by swiping his tongue over the seam of Louis’ mouth. He made a low noise as he pulled Louis closer and moved his lips against Louis’.

With his hands in Harry’s hair, Louis parted his lips and his tongue met Harry’s in a slick and warm embrace. Warmth spread through his limbs, heat pooling in his tummy as the adrenaline from earlier in the day coursed through his body.

When Harry pulled Louis into his lap, the latter straddled his waist and whined as he leaned down to kiss at Harry’s jaw.

“Fuck, babe,” Harry breathed and slid his hands down to rest just above Louis’ ass.

Louis hummed as he kissed along Harry’s stubbly jawline and trailed wet open-mouthed kisses down the column of his throat. When Harry’s hands slid down to his bum, Louis moaned softly as he licked and kissed on his neck just under his jaw, making Harry squeeze his ass.

Harry used the position of his hands to pull Louis flush against his chest, humming as he dug his fingers into Louis’ fleshy cheeks.

Louis pulled away and stared at Harry with hooded eyes, rocking his hips experimentally. When Harry gasped and ground up against him, Louis tightened his grip on the curls in his fingers.

“Louis. Babe. Can we?” Harry breathed, eyes dark with want.

“Are you clean?” Louis asked, combing his fingers through Harry’s short curls.

Harry nodded eagerly. “Yeah, I’m clean. Got tested actually a few weeks ago, haven’t been with anyone since.”

Louis grinned. “Then yeah. We can.”

With that, Harry lunged up to kiss Louis in a wet open-mouthed kiss. He slid his hands up the back of Louis’ sweater to feel the soft skin that lay beneath. “Off,” he ordered impatiently.

Louis’ breath hitched and pulled back to whip the sweater off of himself before reaching for the hem of Harry’s sweatshirt.

Harry lifted his arms to help Louis slide it off and pulled Louis back in for another bruising kiss as soon as the sweatshirt was off.

“Fuck, Harry,” Louis mumbled, hands immediately going to explore the tattoos littered over Harry’s body. “You’re so fucking hot.”

Their lips met again and the hands on Louis’ back slid down to slip under the warm fleece of Louis’ thermal leggings. As they kissed, his mind raced with images of sweaty skin and slick lips.

“Lou, can these come off?” Harry asked breathlessly, rolling Louis’ hips down against his. His own cock was hard and straining against the material of his sweatpants, and he could feel Louis was just as eager as he was.

“God, yeah. Please, Harry,” the man on top whispered, grinding down a few times before moving to help Harry get his leggings and the boxer briefs he was wearing underneath off. He blushed as Harry’s eyes widened and ate up his body, eager to see as much of Louis as he could.

They made quick work of Harry’s undressing and as soon as they were both naked, Harry flipped them so Louis was on his back underneath him.

“Baby, you’re so beautiful. Fucking hell.” He cursed, raking his hands down Louis’ chest, tummy, and thighs.

Louis’ only response was to tug Harry down to kiss him, feeling Harry’s length against his own. He moaned at the size. It was a bit bigger than his own, but then again that was fine because he preferred to bottom anyway.

Harry’s hand moved to rest on Louis’ hip, his thumb rubbing circles dangerously close to where Louis really wanted him. Before Harry had a chance to get his hand on him, Louis reached down to grasp Harry’s cock, a soft moan falling from his perfectly plump lips.

Louis rubbed his thumb over the tip of Harry’s dick, smearing precum around the head and slicking up his length. He hummed and tilted his head back as Harry kissed down his neck until he found the perfect spot to mark him, licking and sucking a purple bruise into his skin while Louis’ hand worked over his length.

“Baby, I know we don’t have lube so could I eat you out?” Harry asked, breath fanning over Louis’ spit slick neck.

Louis moaned and nodded eagerly. “Fuck, yeah. Please.”

Harry smirked and trailed kisses all down Louis’ chest, circling his nipples, before dragging his lips down his belly and to his dick. He opened his mouth and pressed wet, slick kisses down his length before flipping him over, knocking a surprised gasp out of Louis.

“Can you put your bum up, darling?” Harry murmured, kissing Louis’ cheeks and even gently biting on the flesh of one.

Louis immediately shifted his hips up to arc his back and present his ass, holding himself up.

“Good. Thank you,” Harry hummed and spread Louis’ cheeks to reveal him. He leaned forward and kissed around where Louis was fluttering at his touch.

Having decided Louis had had enough teasing, Harry licked a wet stripe over him and grinned at the whimper coming from the man underneath him. He dragged his tongue around his hole before experimentally nudging the tip against Louis. When he pushed his bum back against the slick wet muscle at his entrance, Harry wiggled his tongue a little further and gripped Louis’ cheek.

As he worked his tongue into Louis, Harry palmed himself to give himself even a little bit of relief. He loved hearing Louis falling apart underneath him, whining and begging Harry for more as he pushed his tongue against his walls and explored him. Harry soon snuck a finger in along with his tongue as Louis moaned softly and bit his lip at the sensation.

“I think I can take more,” Louis breathed, sweat making his skin sticky and glowing by the light of the lantern.

Harry nodded and nudged a second finger into Louis, going slowly to ease into him. He worked his fingers in a scissor motion and licked all around Louis’ hole as he opened him up. Before long, Louis was asking for another and Harry had to pull back and concentrate on the three fingers that he had inside the man beneath him.

Louis’ mouth hung open as his eyes grew hooded, breathing heavily as he felt Harry probe around inside of him. He jolted down against the sleeping bag when Harry’s longest finger brushed against his prostate.

“Fuck, Harry there!” Louis moaned and fisted the material in his hands tightly.

Harry smirked and worked his fingers a little faster into Louis, aiming at his prostate every few thrusts to keep him on edge.

Once he felt open enough, Louis pushed his leg back against Harry’s thigh.

“You ready, Lou?” Harry asked, thrusting his fingers harder into his prostate.

Louis whined and nodded eagerly. “Yes. Please. C’mon and fuck me.”

Harry pulled his fingers out and spat in Louis’ hole to ensure it would be wet enough. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt him, and he was already trying to be extra careful since they didn’t have lube to work with.

“Wait. I want to see you,” Louis decided, rolling onto his back and gazing up at Harry like the beautiful sculpture that he was. “Better.”

Harry smiled and leaned down for a sweet kiss, cupping his cheek and nuzzling their noses together before pulling back. He grabbed his cock and lined it up, nudging against Louis. He slowly pushed himself into Louis, watching his face for any signs of discomfort.

Once he was fully seated, he ground his hips in. Louis gasped and wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist, hands falling to the tattoos on Harry’s pecks. Harry gazed down at him and smiled breathlessly, amazed at Louis’ beauty and feeling so incredibly lucky.

Louis bit his lip as he adjusted to the length inside him, his heart beating rapidly and his breathing heavy. When the comfortability subsided, he tightened his legs around Harry and pulling him down for a kiss.

“Fuck me, H,” he whispered against Harry’s lips.

Harry nodded quickly, curls bouncing from the movement. He licked into Louis’ mouth and slowly dragged his hips back before pushing back in, making Louis hum underneath him. He gradually built up his pace, drawing moans from Louis as he grunted with each thrust into the man.

Louis’ mouth hung open as Harry’s cock drove into him, hitting deep inside him. Moving his hands to his back, Louis dragged his fingernails down Harry’s muscled shoulders as he clung to him desperately.

“Oh god, Lou,” Harry breathed, snapping his hips into Louis. “Feel so good. So warm and tight.”

Letting out a moan, Louis ground his hips up and reached down to touch himself.

“Wait,” Harry mumbled, grabbing Louis’ wrist. “I wanna.”

Louis blushed and nodded, removing his hand. He whined and arched his back as he finally felt Harry’s hand on him, relieving some of the pressure. He leaned up and latched his lips onto Harry’s chest, just below his collarbone to suck a mark onto his pale skin. He laved his tongue over the mark and gasped as Harry nailed his prostate.

Harry noted Louis’ reaction and doubled his efforts against that spot inside him, grunted as he pounded into Louis. He felt arousal building in his lower stomach and gripped Louis’ hips harder.

“Fuck, Harry! I’m close,” Louis whined, chest heaving as he clenched around Harry’s length.

Harry nodded and leaned down to kiss him, licking into his mouth messily and sucking on his tongue while he fucked into Louis as hard as he could.

Louis moaned, back arching as he came. Cum spurted from him and landed on their chests, painting their chests messy and white.

Groaning at the sensation of Louis tightening like a vice around him, Harry buried himself deep into Louis as he came. His mouth hung open as he moaned lowly, sweat dripping from his brow as he reveled in being surrounded by so much of Louis.

He came down from his high eventually and slowly eased himself out of Louis before dropping onto the sleeping bag next to him, keeping an arm draped over Louis’ body.

“Fuck,” Louis breathed with heavy-lidded eyes, turning his head to look at Harry.

Harry grinned tiredly, rubbing Louis’ side. “Already did.”

“That was amazing,” Louis murmured and grabbed a dirty sock to wipe off their chests.

“Agreed. You’re wonderful.”

Louis blushed and smiled softly, rolling onto his side and scooting closer to Harry to cuddle into his chest. He hummed quietly when Harry hugged him close and kissed the top of his head.

Before the two fell asleep, Louis managed to zip their sleeping bags together so they could sleep pressed together in a warm and cozy cocoon.

*

On the fourth day of their trip, they arrived at Mount Levski around dinner time just as the sun was setting.

“Well, Harry, what do you think of your home for the next few days?” Louis asked, gazing up at the mountain in front of them.

Harry stared at the huge expanse of rock and snow, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. “It’s beautiful,” he whispered, smiling as he soaked in the beauty of the Antarctic mountain

Louis stomped the brake hook into the ice and stretch his arms above his head as he walked towards the dogs. “Babe, would you work on the tent?” He called over his shoulder.

“I’m on it,” Harry hummed and climbed off the sled to unpack a few of the things they would need to set up camp.

Louis checked on each of the dogs and fed them their dinner while Harry set everything up. He praised his dogs and kissed their heads as cooed at them.

While Louis was building the fire, the radio crackled to life.

“Field base to Levski, come in?” A garbled voice came over the radio.

“H, can you grab the radio from the sled?” Louis asked, getting the fire stoked enough to set the pot with their dinner on the rocks.

Harry retrieved the radio and handed it over, sitting down next to Louis with their thighs touching.

“Base Camp, I hear you. This is Levski. Over.”

“Louis…. Storm…. Days…… Back…” The voice crackled, the radio fuzzy and cutting off some of the words.

“Base Camp, I’m losing you. Repeat?” Louis frowned and got to his feet, wandering around the camp to try to get a stronger signal.

“Lou… Major storm is coming….. Bad, you need to come back right away…Over.”

“Alright, copy that. When do we expect this storm?”

The radio crackles but Louis can’t make out a voice.

“Hello? Base Camp, how many days do we have?”

There was no reply and it seemed like they lost the radio signal.

Louis sighed and turned to Harry. “Sounds like a bad winter storm is coming. We have to head back.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “Louis, I can’t leave yet. We haven’t even looked yet!”

“Listen, there’s a major storm coming in. Not a minor one but a major one. Down here, there’s a big difference between the two. Now, it’s my job as your guide to get you back in one piece, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Lou, please. This is history in the making. What if we leave and we lose the meteor forever? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I have to at least try,” Harry murmured, frowning. “Please, Louis. Just give me some time.”

Louis hesitated, studying Harry’s face as he weighed his options. “Fine. You have half a day and then we head back.”

A grin spread across Harry’s face and he jumped to his feet, wrapping his arms around Louis and lifting him off the ground. “Thank you, Lou. Thank you so much!” He cheered and spun Louis around.

Louis couldn’t help but laugh and shook his head fondly. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll get up bright and early to get started but we have to leave at noon.”

Harry nodded eagerly. “Of course, thank you so much.” He beamed and kissed Louis happily.

Louis returned the kiss and pulled away. “C’mon, I’m hungry and cold.”

They settled down with their dinner, the dogs scattered around them curled up together for warmth.

The next morning Louis woke up with Harry’s arms wrapped tightly around him and his cheek pressed to the top of Louis’ head. “Babe. Time to get up,” he mumbled and nudged Harry.

All he received was a grunt as his arms tightened around him. Louis sighed and rubbed his hand down Harry’s back. “C’mon. Let’s go look for your fancy rock.”

“S not a fancy rock,” Harry mumbled, voice rough from sleep.

“So you are awake,” Louis grinned softly and kissed Harry’s shoulder.

Harry sighed and rolled onto his back, stretching his legs. “Barely.”

“Well, let’s get going. We’ve got a lot to get done today.”

Louis climbed out of the sleeping bag and got dressed into his snow pants, parka, and boots before slipping out of the tent to wake up the dogs. A few minutes later, Harry emerged from the tent, rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Harry mumbled something and pulled his hat and gloves on.

“Will you take down the tent? Sun will be up soon and we’ll get moving,” Louis hummed, dishing out breakfast to each of his dogs.

Louis watched as Harry slowly collapsed the tent and start packing it into the bag. Once he was finished, he put it back on the sled just as the sun was rising above the mountains.

As soon as they could see, the two set off towards where Harry thought the meteor would be. As they made their way to the location, Louis was probing the ice and sticking flags into the snow to create a safe zone where he knew they would be safe.

For hours, they wandered the side of the mountain, picking up rocks and clearing snow away to check for the meteor. Louis knew he wasn’t being all that helpful, he didn’t know what the meteor looked like so he would hold up rocks for Harry to look at, only to receive a shake of the head with each one.

As they neared noon, Harry was getting more nervous, knowing he was running out of time.

“Harry, we need to leave soon. I know you want to stay, but we can’t,” Louis called over to Harry.

Harry sighed. “I know. Just one more hour?” He pleaded.

Louis shook his head. “No can do. I said noon. It’s 11:30.”

Harry bit his lip and nodded, going back to searching for the meteor. He couldn’t believe he had come all this way and might not even find what he came here looking for. His eyes skated across the ice, squinting as he scanned the area. “C’mon C’mon. Where are you?” He whispered to himself.

Louis was bent over a pile of rocks, examining each one, when he noticed Harry walking towards the edge of the safe zone. He sat back and watched Harry with furrowed eyebrows.

When Harry crossed the border and walked past the flags, Louis shot to his feet. “Harry, stop! You’re out of the safe zone!”

Harry ignored Louis and grinned as he walked over to a rock that didn’t look like the rest. “Louis! I think I found it!” He shouted happily, picking it up and examining it. “Oh my god, this is it!”

“Harry, stop! Don’t move!” Louis yelled.

Harry held it up. “Look, this is it! I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

“That’s great. I’m glad you found your rock and everything, but I need you to fucking stop moving. I haven’t cleared that area yet!” Louis huffed in frustration. “You need to slowly back up. Step right in your footprints and get your ass back here!”

Harry couldn’t stop grinning as he walked backward back into the safe zone. “Oh, man this is amazing! Louis, look at it!”

Louis rolled his eyes in annoyance but humored Harry and looked at it. “Yeah. Nice rock,” he muttered, making Harry frown.

“Are you mad at me?” Harry asked, chewing on his cheek as he slid the rock into a bag.

“Not mad. Just. You need to be careful and fucking listen to me.”

Harry nodded. “I’m sorry, Lou. This is just huge and when I saw it, I didn’t think. I’ll be more careful.”

“Thank you. Now let’s get out of here so we can get back to the base before the storm hits.”

Louis led the way back to the sled and handed the radio to Harry. “Will you radio Base Camp and let them know we’re on our way back?”

Harry nodded and wandered away from Louis and the dogs while the other man got the dogs hitched to the sled.

Louis listened as Harry radioed the team, getting nothing but static. As he was leading Honey over to hitch her up with the rest of the dogs, he heard a low crumbling sound followed by a gasp from Harry.

“Harry!” Louis screamed, watching in horror as the snow ledge that Harry was standing on gave way and Harry fell out of sight.

Louis gasped, heart pounding in his chest as he peered over the ledge to see Harry laying on his back on the ice below. “Harry! Are you okay?” He yelled.

Harry groaned, unable to move. “I think my leg might be broken,” he grit out in pain, jaw clenched tightly.

“Stay right there, I’ll be right back,” Louis ordered, turning towards the sled to grab a rope when a cracking sound sent shivers down his spine. He spun back around with wide eyes.

“Whoa!” Louis’ eyes widened as cracks spread across the ice that Harry was laying on. “Wait, don’t move!”

Harry had managed to get himself into a half seated position, looking around himself in terror, his heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest.

“Harry! Harry!” Louis yelled as the ice underneath Harry cracked. The sight of Harry looking up at him with horror in his eyes would most likely haunt Louis forever as Harry fell right through the ice and into the freezing water below.

Harry gasped at the frigid water, eyes squeezing shut as his whole body tensed and he tried to tread water.

“Don’t tread water! Don’t tread water!” Louis shouted. “Look at me! See the ice? Grab ahold of the ice, it’ll freeze you to it! It takes you a whole lot longer to freeze to death than it does to drown.”

Harry gasped for air, whole body tense and shivering as he tried to keep his thoughts clear enough to reach out for the ice. He managed to grab onto the edge of the ice and looked up at Louis for more direction.

“Good! Stay there and hold on, I’ll be right there!” Louis called out and ran over to Honey and Timber. “Come here, kids.” He murmured and grabbed a bundle of rope from the sled. With his team of dogs, he carefully made his way down to where Harry was and stopped at the edge of the ice.

Harry was clinging to the ice, his teeth chattering as he shivered. “C-Can’t breathe. Hurry.” He pleaded quietly, straining to talk any louder as his body slowed down.

“Take deep breaths, H,” Louis called out and placed the rope in Honey’s mouth. “Honey, take the rope. Go to the doc.” He pointed to Harry and watched as she slowly walked in Harry’s direction. “She’s coming to you, Harry.”

When Honey approached where the ice was thin and cracking, Louis called out to her. “Honey, down. Crawl over to the doc.” She did as Louis ordered and slowly crawled over to Harry, Louis praising her as she crawled over with the rope.

“Alright, H. I’m going to have her put the loop over you. Keep your left arm on the ice like it is, then I want you to ease your right arm up through the loop and get it across your chest.” Louis watched as Harry tried to get his arm through the loop. He knew Harry’s body was starting to shut down to preserve body heat, and he didn’t like the way his eyes had started to look dull and his skin was paling.

“Good job,” Louis praised. “You’re doing such a good job, babe. I’ve got you.”

Louis called Honey back and hitched the rope around Harry up to the line that the dogs were connected to. “Line them up, Honey!” He ordered, pulling the rope tight. “Alright, now hike!” He yelled, pulling hard with the team of eight dogs to get Harry out of the water. “C’mon, kids! Let’s go, hike!”

Louis groaned as he grit his teeth and strained to pull as hard as he could, dragging Harry out of the water but more ice cracked under his weight and he sunk back in. “Hike, come on kids, hike!” Louis yelled. As they dragged Harry closer, they were able to get him back on top of the ice and towards safety.

With one final heave, Louis got Harry back on solid ground, nearly falling over in relief before the adrenaline kicked back in. He grabbed Harry by the jacket and, with the help of the dogs, pulled him up the incline back to the sled.

Louis worked quickly to rip Harry’s coat off of him. “It’s okay, H. You’re gonna be okay,” Louis promised, tugging off Harry’s snow pants and the rest of his clothes until he was naked. He grabbed a sleeping bag out of the sled and helped Harry get into it.

“That’s it, babe. Hang in there.” Louis started ripping stuff off the sled and tossing it into the snow, but made sure to hold onto the meteor. He stripped the sled bare and laid Harry down on top of the sled, bundling a blanket and as many dry pieces of clothing as he could find around him before zipping up the cover around him to try to insulate his body heat. He gave Harry his dry hat and put a pair of snow goggles over his eyes. “I’m gonna get you home.”

The wind and snow swirled around them, making it difficult to see more than ten feet in front of them, and the temperatures had dropped significantly since they had departed this morning. Louis coughed into his arm as he stumbled up to hitch the dogs to the sled. He put a lead extender on Honey’s line so she was in front of the other dogs.

“You gotta get us home, Honey. Get us home!” Louis ordered, coughing and pressing his freezing fingers to his lips to try to warm them. He had given his thick gloves to Harry and was left with fingerless gloves that did little to protect his fingers from the freezing air.

Louis stepped onto the runners and pulled the brake hook out of the ice. “Alright team, hike! Take us home!” He shouted, gripping the handle as the team took off in the direction of the base and left behind all of Harry’s equipment, the tent, snowshoes, and food scattered about the snowbank.

*

The team flew through the snow with Honey in the lead, navigating the ice with ease. For the next two days, the ten of them ran on, barely stopping for anything. Louis needed to get Harry home as soon as possible, knowing that Harry might not make it if he didn’t get proper care for the hypothermia that he was undoubtedly developing. For two days, Louis refused to sleep and clung to the handlebar of the sled. The dogs were exhausted, but it was as if they knew this was a life or death situation and they persevered through the ice and snow as they ran home.

During those two days, Louis watched Harry with concern etched deep into his features. Harry had passed out at some point on the first day and spent most of the day sleeping. Louis did his best not to let his mind wander to what would happen if they didn’t get to the field base soon. He had no idea where they were, but he trusted the dogs to get them home safely. They were exceptional navigators and Louis had trained Honey how to find her way home without any direction from Louis. He could only hope that his training had worked and that she would deliver them to safety.

Two days after Harry’s accident, Louis was slumped against the handle and coughing hard when he spotted what seemed like a glow in the distance. He perked up a little but was too weak to stand up completely. A tear slipped down his cheek in relief as the team ran towards the glow over the horizon.

“Good job, team. Good job. Take us home,” Louis tried to yell but his voice came out as more of a breathy whisper, breath catching in a cough.

When they pulled up to the base, the dogs barked loudly to alert the base that they were there.

Niall was sitting with Liam, Zayn, Rosemary, and Andy around the table while they played cribbage quietly. The mood around the base had been somber for the last three days as they awaited any news from Louis out in the field. They hadn’t heard from them in days and they only had another day or so before they absolutely had to leave the base to be able to fly home. As it was, Zayn would have to fly through blizzard conditions and it was expected to only get worse.

Niall frowned and his brows furrowed as he heard something. “Everyone, shut up!” He called out, straining his ears to try to make out what it was. He got to his feet and peered out the window. “Holy fuck, they’re here!”

Liam shot to his feet and ran over to the window. “My god, they’re back!” He gasped and ran to shove boots on his feet and throw on his parka.

Niall and Liam were the first ones out the door as they ran towards Louis and Harry. “Louis! Are you lads okay?” Niall shouted, running over to the team.

Louis coughed from where he was slouched over the sled. “He might have a broken leg and he’s been in the water,” he rasped, coughing again.

Liam turned back to shout to Rosemary, “Get the stretcher!”

Rosemary nodded and ran back into the base to get it.

Andy ran over to Louis as he coughed, hunched over Harry in the sled. “I don’t like the sound of that cough, Louis.”

“Andy, look at his hands.” Liam pointed at Louis’ fingers that were turning black at the fingertips from his fingerless gloves.

Andy sucked in a breath. “Liam, get him inside! Niall and I will take care of Harry.”

As Liam slipped his arm around Louis to carry him inside, Louis turned to look at the dogs. “Good team! Good kids. Good girl, Honey. You got us home,” he coughed, stumbling against Liam as he was hauled into the base.

Rosemary and Andy hauled Harry inside on the stretcher and shoved the cards off the table where they had been playing, setting the stretcher on top.

Rosemary grabbed a pair of scissors and cut into the sleeping bag to get to Harry, ripping the fabric open while Andrew checked Harry’s pupils with a flashlight.

Liam grabbed the hypothermia kit and used a small pair of surgical scissors to cut the gloves off of Louis’ hands. “Put your hands in here. We’ll bring them back nice and slow,” he murmured, setting a bowl of water in front of Louis and dipping his fingers in to slowly warm them up.

Niall walked over to Louis and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Lou, how are you feeling?” He asked, rubbing his back.

“I’m fine. How are the dogs?” Louis brushed him off, more concerned about the animals and Harry than himself.

“They’re good. I just fed them,” Niall assured.

“Did you get the rock off the sled?” Louis coughed, looking back at Niall.

“The rock? You found it?” Niall asked in surprise.

Louis nodded and coughed into his arm again, making Liam and Niall frown.

Andy looked up from where he was examining Harry. “Zayn, get that plane ready as soon as you can. Dr. Styles could lose this leg without proper medical attention.”

Zayn nodded and grabbed his parka before running outside.

Louis looked over his shoulder at Harry, tears welling in his eyes. “Is he gonna be okay? He’s gonna make it, right?” He whispered, voice rough and scratchy.

Liam and Rosemary shared a look and Rosemary pasted a smile on her face. “Of course. He had the best guide to take care of him. We just need to get you both home.”

Louis rested his head on his arms, keeping his face angled towards Harry so he could still see him.

With Liam’s help, Zayn packed up the plane with any supplies they needed to bring with them before Rosemary, Andrew, and Niall loaded Harry on the stretch and into the plane. There was just barely enough room for all of them plus the eight dogs, so Louis sat pressed against a window next to Harry with Honey and Sitka cuddled against him. The rest of the dogs were curled up on the floor and fell asleep as soon as they were in the air, exhausted from running for the past few days. With Harry finally safe, Louis was finally able to fall asleep.

Louis woke hours later in a hospital bed, hands wrapped in gauze and a heated blanket draped over him. His eyes blinked open, adjusting to the harsh light as he looked around the room. He spotted Niall standing next to cupboards, blowing air into a medical glove to watch it blow up into a hand balloon.

Louis snorted, wincing at the pain in his throat. Niall’s eyes shot over to him and yanked the glove away from his mouth, making an odd farting sound as the glove deflated. He shoved it back in the jar he found it in and grinned at Louis. “Hey!”

Louis raised an eyebrow at Niall and shook his head fondly.

“You’re finally awake! Thank god!” Niall enthused and sat down next to Louis’ bed.

“Is Harry okay?” Louis asked in a rasp, licking his dry and chapped lips.

Niall nodded and grabbed a cup of water with a straw, holding it out for Louis. “Harry’s gonna be fine. They took a look at his leg and said it was a pretty simple break, he’s just resting for now. And you get to keep your hands, which is great.”

Louis sighed in relief. “Good.” He was beyond relieved that Harry would be alright, and he just really wanted to see him and hold his hand. “Can I see him yet?”

“Uhh, I’ll have to ask but I’m sure that would be fine,” Niall hummed and got to his feet.

Louis grunted and sat up from the hospital bed, feeling fine to move. He was just exhausted and his fingers felt funny. “I wanna see him.”

The two found their way through the hospital and found Harry’s room just down the hall. Niall left Louis at the door to give him some privacy with Harry. Louis slipped inside the room and bit his lip as he padded over to Harry’s hospital bed, looking down at the tired and worn down man lying there.

“Harry,” he whispered and sat down in a chair next to the bed. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Harry’s eyes fluttered open and he offered a weak smile. “Hey there, beautiful. I’m glad you’re okay too.”

Louis smiled and leaned down to gently press their lips together, his heart at ease now that he was in Harry’s presence.

“You’ve saved my life twice,” Harry whispered. “Might just have to marry you now,” he joked.

Louis grinned and nuzzled their noses together. “You do owe me. I guess I could live with that.”

THREE MONTHS LATER

Louis stood in front of the mirror in his hotel room, fixing his tie nervously. It had been ages since he had been this dressed up, he was pretty sure the last time was for his mom’s wedding. He wasn’t usually very comfortable going to this type of thing but Harry was being honored tonight for his discovery, and he wasn’t about to give up a chance to shower his boyfriend in praise.

Harry’s head appeared next to his in the mirror with a dimpled smile spread across his face. “You look so fucking handsome,” he murmured and leaned in to kiss Louis’ cheek.

Louis smiled and craned his neck back for a kiss. “Hey Dr. Styles,” he hummed and threaded his fingers through Harry’s hair.

“You almost ready to go?” Harry asked, peppering kisses all over Louis’ cheeks and lips.

With a giggle, Louis pushed Harry back and nodded. “Let’s go celebrate your fancy rock, Doc.”

Harry grinned. “Nice rhyme, Tomlinson.”

Louis rolled his eyes and stopped to slip on his shoes. “Oh, shush. Let’s get out of here before I change my mind about being seen with you,” he teased and looped their arms together before they stepped out into the hallway.

They leaned into each other as they rode the elevator down to the main floor and towards the grand banquet hall where the banquet in Harry’s honor was being held. They stopped outside the doors and Harry took a minute to check Louis out. He looked gorgeous in his dark navy suit that clung perfectly to his body. The trousers hugged his curves and his ass looked amazing. The navy brought out his bright blue eyes and his caramel locks were styled in an artfully messy kind of way.

“You look so good.” Harry smiled and pulled on Louis’ tie to yank him in for a kiss.

“You already said that Doc.” Louis laughed and returned the kiss. “You look pretty good yourself though, Doctor.” He brushed a bit of dust or lint off the shoulder of Harry’s charcoal gray suit and fixed his floral print tie. “Now get out there and prepare to have your ass kissed,” he joked.

As Harry walked through the crowd, people from the academic and science field stopped him a million times to shake his hand on their way to their table reserved near the stage where Harry would speak. Harry’s mother and sister were also at their table and the rest of the NSF team were seated at the table next to them.

Louis grinned as he chatted with Anne and Gemma, his hand never leaving Harry’s. When it was time for Harry’s speech, he had to leave Louis to go backstage and wait to be announced.

Some prestigious, snobby guy in his mid-fifties stood at the podium, going on and on about how huge this was for the university. Louis wasn’t sure, he wasn’t paying too much attention to exactly what he was saying. When the man announced Harry’s name and gestured towards Harry as he walked on stage from behind the curtain, Louis cupped his hands over his mouth and cheered loudly, drawing a few odd looks.

“That’s my man!” Louis hollered, grinning widely when Harry laughed and shook his head fondly at Louis.

Harry stood next to the meteor displayed in the glass box next to the podium and smiled as he accepted the award. “Thank you so much. It’s such an incredible honor to be here. I’d like to thank my family, my mother and my sister for supporting me all those years when I brought home buckets of rocks and insisted on spreading them across the kitchen table to identify them.” The audience laughs softly. “This discovery would not have been possible without the incredible faculty here at Manchester University and the support of the science department and I’d also like to thank the entire team at the NSF base because without them, this discovery and this scientist would not have made it home. And I want to thank my boyfriend Louis. Louis, you are an incredible man and you are so special to me. You have saved my life more than once, and I plan on spending the rest of my life thanking you for it. So thank you.”

Louis grinned as the crowd clapped for Harry and got to his feet, clapping and blowing Harry a kiss as he took a picture with the meteorite before returning to his seat with the gold plaque in his hands. Once Harry was seated, a few more people took the stage and talked about something having to do with Harry’s discovery but Louis wasn’t listening. He looked over at Harry and squeezed his hand.

“I’m so proud of you,” he whispered and smiled softly as Harry leaned in to kiss him.

Louis watched fondly as Harry made his rounds, though Louis couldn’t help but roll his eyes as the Science Department head kept grabbing Harry to introduce him to donors and potential donors. Louis was more than happy to watch from the sidelines and get tipsy on the free champagne that was being carried around by servers in white suits.

After his fifth or sixth glass of champagne, Louis was pleasantly buzzed and definitely feeling a bit loose. He walked right up to Harry and rested a hand low on his back. “Harry, babe, do you have a minute?” He asked, paying no mind to the group of snobby looking men and women Harry had been speaking to.

Harry smiled and put his arm around Louis. “Of course. By the way, this is my boyfriend Louis. Louis, these are a few of the donors who funded the expedition.”

Louis hummed and smiled, waving with a giggle. “Nice to meet all of you,” he hummed, blushing as Harry’s hand brushed over his ass. “Sorry to steal him, but duty calls.” He shrugged and pulled Harry away.

Harry led Louis away from the crowds of people and brushed his nose against his cheek. “Hey, baby. What do you say we go upstairs and do some celebrating of our own?” He hummed, kissing his jaw.

Louis grinned and wrapped his arms around Harry. “I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

Louis pulled Harry out of the elevator and towards their room, quickly unlocking the door and rushing inside. Harry shoved the door closed and pushed Louis up against the back of the door, lips meeting Louis’ in a heated kiss.

Louis giggled and kissed Harry back eagerly, humming as Harry’s hands found his ass and lifted him up. Louis wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist and slid his fingers through his curls, licking into his mouth.

With his hands still on Louis’ ass, Harry carried him towards the bed and laid down in the middle of it with Louis on top of him.

Louis pulled back to see Harry and smiled, pushing his suit jacket off his shoulders. “Well, Dr. Styles, can I show you how proud of you I am?” He asked, biting his lip.

Harry groaned and nodded, leaning back up for another kiss. “Fuck. Yeah, you can,” he breathed and leaned back against the pillows.

Louis shuffled down Harry’s body and trailed his hands down his chest, undoing buttons on his way down. With every button undone, Louis slid the shirt off and kissed at Harry’s ab muscles. He hummed softly and licked at Harry’s happy trail before kissing over his belt and to his clothed bulge. Reaching up, Louis unbuckled Harry’s belt and popped the button on his trousers with one hand while the other rubbed over his dick.

Louis licked his lips to wet them and pulled Harry out of his trousers, marveling at his length. Though they had been dating for three months, he still felt a thrill go through his body when he felt how big Harry was. Unable to stand not having his mouth on him for a minute longer, Louis leaned in and licked at Harry’s tip, smiling at the taste.

Harry groaned under him and combed his fingers through Louis’ hair. “You’re stunning, baby.”

Louis looked up at Harry and licked around his head before sucking him into his mouth, cheek bulging with Harry’s girth. He watched as Harry bit his lip and tightened his grip in Louis’ hair slightly. Louis winked and bobbed his head slowly, dragging moans out of Harry with every swipe of his tongue against the vein going down his cock.

He built up a decent speed, slurping and humming as he sucked and licked at Harry eagerly, always happy to make his boyfriend feel good. He suckled on the head and rubbed his tongue against Harry’s slit, lapping up his precum happily. He truly loved sucking Harry’s dick and watching as his man came undone from just his mouth. It was a mutual passion, really.

When he felt Harry was getting close, Louis pulled off with a wet pop and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Harry tugged him up for a kiss and shoved the jacket off his shoulders. “Off. Now.” Harry breathed.

Louis complied and climbed off the bed, letting the jacket fall to the floor. He bit his lip and undid his tie, tossing it off to the side. As he undid each of his buttons slowly, he peered at Harry from under his dark eyelashes, knowing it drove him crazy. When he got to his trousers, Louis turned around slid them down seductively, swaying his ass as he slid them down his legs and kicked them away from his feet. He hooked his fingers on his tight briefs and arched his back as he pulled them down, showing off his ass as he rid himself of his last remaining article of clothing.

He felt hands on his hips and suddenly Harry was yanking him backwards to kiss his left cheek, nipping at his bouncy flesh to leave a little bite mark. “Mine.”

Louis smiled and turned around to face Harry. “Yeah, Dr. Styles. I’m all yours,” he breathed and grabbed the lube. “Do you want to or do you want to watch me do it?”

“I wanna watch if that’s alright?” Harry asked, skating his fingers up and down Louis’ sides.

Louis nodded and leaned down to kiss him. “Whatever you want babe, tonight’s all about you.”

He pushed Harry back onto the bed and laid down with his bottom up in the air so Harry could see. He squirted a generous amount of lube onto his fingers and eased one finger in with no issue. He was still a little loose from earlier that morning when Harry had fucked him in the shower and then on the couch.

Harry watched with dark and lustful eyes, biting his lip as he trailed his hand over his own cock to relieve some tension. “So pretty.”

Louis hummed and added another finger, scissoring them inside himself. He didn’t want to drag this part out too long, he wanted to get to the good part and make Harry feel good. Once he felt he was ready, he snuck the third finger in and fucked his fingers into his hole with a few low whines. He looked over his shoulder to see Harry staring at him with his green eyes a dark forest green. Deciding he was ready, he pulled his fingers out and crawled over to Harry.

He squirted a bit more lube onto his hand and slick Harry’s cock up. “Wanna ride you,” he whispered and straddled Harry’s lap.

Harry nodded eagerly. “Yeah, baby. Gonna ride me good?” He asked, gripping Louis’ ass.

Louis nodded and guided Harry’s cock to his entrance, moaning as he sank down, inch by inch until he was fully seated. “So good. So full.” He mewled, wasting no time before he was grinding down onto Harry. Feeling the thick rod inside him, he swiveled his hips in little figure 8s. Louis gasped and gripped Harry’s shoulders to keep himself balanced as he slowly rose up before dropping back down.

“Fuck!” Harry groaned, licking and sucking at Louis’ neck to leave a nice dark mark on his skin.

Louis bounced up and down on Harry’s cock, moans and grunts filled the air as he rode Harry like a champ. His thighs trembled as he managed to nail that spot inside of himself, little ‘ _uh, uh, uh’s_ falling from his lips with each bounce.

He quickly grew weak from the effort, and Harry immediately caught on and held onto Louis’ hips before planting his feet on the bed and thrusting up into Louis. He groaned as he thrust up into Louis’ tight wet heat, curling his toes as pleasure coursed through his body.

“H, fuck. I’m gonna cum,” Louis whined, burying his face in Harry’s neck and clinging to him as Harry fucked up into him.

Harry nodded, eyes wide and wild with want, pulling his hand away and clapping it over Louis’ ass with a slap. Louis gasped and shot against Harry’s chest, head falling back as he closed his eyes in pure bliss.

Harry mouth against Louis’ neck, hips stuttering to a stop as he came buried inside Louis with a groan. Louis slumped against Harry’s chest and panted, sweat dripping down his back as he felt Harry spurt inside him.

They lay there for a few minutes while they caught their breaths, gazing into each other’s eyes.

“Harry?” Louis said softly, brushing a curl back from his boyfriend’s face.

Harry hummed and tilted his head. “Yeah, babe?”

“I love you,” Louis whispered, smiling as he finally said the three words he’d been wanting to say for weeks.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just created a Tumblr, so feel free to follow me at GuiltyPleasureIsMyPleasure!


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